Player Profile: Matt Chapman, 3B, Oakland Athletics

Drafted with the 25th overall pick back in 2014, Chapman has already made a name for himself with his outstanding defense and superior arm strength. Because of his excellent skill in the field, we sometimes overlook the amount of power he possesses. In Chapman’s first season in the major leagues he hit a total of 14 home runs in just 326 plate appearances. We saw a lot of power coming from many young stars in 2017, so it was easy to overlook a prospect who was averaging nearly 5 home runs a month beginning in July. He also owned a 0.66 GB/FB and a 36.0% hard contact percentage so Chapman looks like he could be the next young power hitter to make his mark in the big leagues. Something I was surprised to see while doing my research was his 11.5% swinging strike rate due to his 28.2 strikeout rate. Now this is still below the average 10.4%, but it shows that he is not a Joey Gallo type power hitter who will have a 20% swing strike rate. He was also pretty patient at the plate in 2017 evident by his 26.6% O-Swing%, which should help him draw a good amount of walks. All together I could see Chapman being someone who hits for a .245 average with 35-40 home runs in 2018.